Mac's men master Malone
High-flying Falcons unbeaten in last nine
| Box |

CANTON, Ohio – Notre Dame closed out the 2007 regular season in style Saturday, blanking the Malone Pioneers, 4-0, in Canton. The victory for Head Coach Michael "Mac" McBride's Falcons, their fifth in a row, send the Falcons into post-season play with a final regualr season mark of 14-2-2.

Notre Dame (14-2-2, 5-0 AMC-N) sprinted out to a 1-0 lead one minute nto the match, when Johnny Morris (So/Huddersfield, England) scored on a feed from Jared Miller (Sr/Avon Lake, OH).

The Falcons would score again early, when senior forward Danny Bartulovic (Gates Mills, OH) scored at the seven-minute mark, giving NDC a two-goal advantage over Malone (6-10-2, 2-3).

The Blue & Gold took that lead into halftime. The Falcons added two tallies in the second frame with goals by Miller, at 63 minutes, and Nick Jordan (Sr/Mentor, OH), at 76 minutes.

Sophomore goalkeeper Craig Pickering (Newcastle, England) was solid between the pipes for NDC, stopping all three shots he faced for his seventh shutout of the season.

The win sends NDC into a seven-day layoff before they begin post-season play. By winning the AMC North crown, Notre Dame earns an automatic berth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Regional Tournament, which begins Saturday, Nov. 3. The Falcons' opponent and the site of the match will be determined by season-ending Longo computer rankings, which will be tabulated after AMC Qualifier matches on Wednesday.

Notes from the Nest...

Matched with Malone: Saturday's match was the Falcons' first against Malone since 2002. NDC now leads the all-time series between the two northeast Ohio neighbors, 2-1.

Lucky 14: Notre Dame's 14-2-2 record sets a new program-best for a regular season record. It also matches NDC's best-ever record through 18 matches.

Scoring binge : With their four goals Saturday, NDC raised its season scoring average to 3.33 goals per game. Over their last five matches, the Falcons scored 22 goals. That streak is part of a larger, nine-game unbeaten streak that has seen the Blue & Gold outscore their opponents, 31-7. For the season thus far, the Falcons have scored 60 goals, a new program record. The Falcons' previous single-season best was 42 goals, which they collected in the 2002 season.